Grace age 13
Noah age 13
I want to kiss her, touch her, see what else my hands can do. The way that Grace is a little more nervous and wary of being alone with me tells me that she’s thinking of the same things I do.
I shouldn’t… But I do.
And I will because she’s Grace.
I think I can un-promise now.
N.P.
I turned thirteen today. It was a Saturday and I spent the morning waiting on Noah to arrive. I looked over all the wooden pieces he had gotten me so far. Every year, he carved me a new animal. I had a bear, two cubs wrestling, another more improved bear, a wolf and his mate that I got the following year, and an eagle from my 12th birthday—that was his best work yet. His hands steadily improved over the years. I kept them on my desk.
There was a knock on my door. I raised my chin up from the desk and smiled when Noah cracked open the door. He saw what I was looking at and smiled back. “Happy Birthday, Miss Priss.”
I rolled my eyes. “I can’t believe you still call me that,” I told him. I finally figured out his birthday last year, and the only reason I found out was by snooping in his backpack the first of the school year and seeing where he filled out his information on the paperwork that had to be returned to school. May 5th. I grinned thinking about how Mom and I bought him a pair of shoes this year for his birthday. He treated them like they were amazing and only wore them for basketball.
“I’m forever going to call you that,” he teased with a smirk as he dropped down on my bed. He held my new piece to add to my collection this year. It was wrapped in a grocery bag. I got up and flopped down beside him on the bed.
“What animal do I have this year?” I asked as I took the bag from his hand. He watched me open the bag with as much eagerness as I felt. It was a little bigger than the other ones. I was at a loss for words when I saw it. It was a wolf’s face with an eagle sitting atop its head with its wings stretched out as it was about to take off. “Noah… it’s beautiful. The best yet,” I turned my head and told him.
“What color stain are you going to get your mom to get for this one?” he asked. In order to preserve the wood, we started staining them last year after my first bear started to mildew.
“Don’t know.” I placed it next to the others before sitting back down on the bed again. I glanced over them all with a smile. “I want bigger versions of these in my yard when I get my own place.”
He leaned over a bit. “I can do that, I’m sure.”
“I know, I can’t wait to see what you’ll be able to do when you get older.”
He reddened. “You have a lot of faith in me.”
“Of course! You’re so different than other guys our age,” I said then remembered a couple months ago and stiffened.
He remembered too. “I’m not all that different than them, really.” I couldn’t read his expression. His hand found mine on the bed and covered it. My eyes felt a little heavy, my chest a little strange, and my stomach a web of warmth.
He leaned in. “I promised I’d never want to do those things to you, Grace… Can I un-promise now?”
I licked my lips while staring at his. He saw and closed in. He met my eyes once more before I shut mine. And Noah kissed me. His lips were a lot warmer, a lot softer than I thought they’d be. It didn’t make me sick and I didn’t think of the video, instead, I felt myself smiling when he pulled away, and when I opened my eyes… I just shared my first kiss with Noah.
Noah swallowed then he came for my lips again. This time, his fingers wrapped around the back of my head and his lips were a little harder, clumsier, and his hands were shaky.
“Come eat some cake,” Mom said right next to my door. We pushed apart right before she opened the door. Her eyes narrowed, missing nothing. “You two are looking a little weird,” she muttered before turning around. “Come on downstairs, y’all are getting the age where you shouldn’t be left alone.”
We glanced at each other quickly before jumping off the bed and following Mom out of the door. My stomach was in knots. That was our first kiss and Mom already caught a whiff of it… Wait a minute, was I thinking there was going to be more of them?
My eyes widened when I felt Noah’s fingers slide through mine briefly. I glanced at him and he smiled ruefully, then he let go and stepped down the stairs.